CAG report commands respect and cannot be brushed aside but it cannot be the final word on an issue, the Supreme Court said today while noting that the auditor's findings cannot be gospel truth as it is subject to scrutiny by Parliament.
Armed with the Supreme Court observation, the government on Friday said constitutional authorities like the Comptroller and Auditor General should take note of the ruling that auction is not the only method for allocating natural resources.
Let's take a look at how fraud has grown in the country.
Typically these are high-beta stocks and earnings are volatile
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday took its grievances against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress-led United Progressive Alliance to President Pranab Mukherjee, demanding his intervention on the coal allocation issue and attacks on a constitutional institution like the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Taking potshots at Vinod Rai over his comment that placing reports in Parliament can't be the Comptroller and Auditor General's only role, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Friday asked whether the former intended to become the country's prime minister, if not an accountant.
'Mamata is an emotional person, she follows her heart.' 'We loved that Didi, we still love her, but she is a changed person.' 'Why and how the change happened, who is responsible, I can't say.'
The national trait of exploiting the inherent weakness of democracy is now mirrored within the ICAI too.
RINL wiped out its losses in 2005-06 with money from the government.
The CAG, in its report tabled in Parliament recently, had stated that the defence forces had ammunition that could last for 20 days in the event of a war, instead of the minimum requirement of 40 days.
The crucial service records of Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai are not traceable with the Personnel ministry, an RTI reply has revealed.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday questioned the safety of the Signature Bridge in East Delhi after the Comptroller and Auditor General objected to allowing use of pre-fabricated steel frames imported from China for its construction. "It is a serious issue that there is no mechanism with the Delhi Government to check the quality of material and fabrication work being done in China. This raises concern about the safety of the bridge," BJP leader Vijay Goel said.
With the Comptroller and Auditor General reports providing ammunition to the Opposition to attack the prime minister, Congress on Friday dismissed Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for his resignation while party chief Sonia Gandhi held a "strategy meeting" with senior ministers and party leaders.
Did men and women of redoubtable experience and public service, upholders of the country's steel frame and paragons of corporate governance, never smell a rat?
Vinod Rai, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India till May and probably the most talked-about government official in the last few years, participated in a Live Chat with readers of Rediff.com on Friday.
Newly appointed Comptroller and Auditor General Shashi Kant Sharma is is approachable and friendly, not forbidding, say his former colleagues.
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a PIL challenging appointment of Shashi Kant Sharma as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
The government is banking on the second round of spectrum auction and customer-centric moves such as free national roaming to rebuild the telecom sector, impacted by controversies and court judgements that have shaken investor confidence.
Outgoing Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Tuesday dismissed charges that he was behind the leak of controversial audit reports on 2G spectrum and coal block allocations.
Terming as "baseless innuendos" the allegations of fraud by her Trust, Law Minister Salman Khurshid's wife Louise launched a scathing attack on activist Arvind Kerjriwal, accusing him of "doing politics using the shoulders of the disabled". She also trashed speculation about her husband resigning over the issue, saying there is no reason why her husband should step down.
Amid a war of words between the government and the opposition over the recent Comptroller and Auditor General reports, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday cautioned that attempts by any organ of the state to overreach will unnecessarily lead to dissonance within the system.
Report says ineligible farmers given benefits.
A review of three years' audit reports of CAG showed that the state PSUs' losses of Rs 6,072.96 crore (Rs 60.72 billion) were 'controllable' with better management.
Swiss banks seek fresh undertakings from Indians.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday said that a Comptroller Auditor General inquiry should be conducted into expenditure made during Maha Kumbh Mela at Allahabad.
CAG says Rs 43,270.01 cr was spent by the water resources department on 426 incomplete projects.
The issue of CAG and PAC was mentioned in paragraph 25 of the judgment of the top court which had held that there were no irregularities in the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from France.
The comments by a former official of the Comptroller and Auditor General over the report on 2G spectrum allocation on Friday kicked up a row with Congress President Sonia Gandhi suggesting that the Bharatiya Janata Party had been exposed while the government demanded answers from Parliament's PAC chief M M Joshi over his alleged role.
The auditor will also investigate into the circumstance under which Coffee Day Enterprises late founder V G Siddhartha had written the purported letter dated July 27, 2019, alleging harassment by the Income Tax department.
Under attack from the opposition over the Comptroller and Auditor General report on coal blocks allocation, the government is all set to counter it through a nation-wide campaign by key ministers and partymen.
With Digvijay Singh causing a flutter by targeting Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai and suggesting that he has a political agenda, the government on Friday said there was no need for Constitutional authorities to be "touchy and sensitive" about criticism.
The National Election Watch has said that several companies make political donations, which makes it necessary to probe if the donations have led to any favours. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Slamming Congress for trying to "weaken" Comptroller and Auditor General by making it a multi-member body, the Baratiya Janata Party on Monday warned that any such move would only 'boomerang' on the party.
The apex court was hearing a plea of the NGO seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against the Union home secretary and chief secretary of J-K for their alleged 'wilful disobedience' in complying with the court's May 11 order. The top court told the administration that with the change of L-G, nothing changes as the special committee is there to look into the issue.
We will now get CAG to do the audit for the last 3-4 years, says the secretary.
Both Houses of the Parliament were adjourned minutes within the proceedings began on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led opposition sticking to their demand for Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh''s resignation over the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on coal block allocations.
The stalemate in Parliament over the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on coal block allocation continues.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, which had at the end of its first sitting with RIL in January suspended the audit of spending on the flagging KG-D6 block following differences with RIL over scope and extent of the scrutiny, is likely to resume it next two weeks.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to register more than one first information reports in the alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks after it came across several cases of violation of norms by state government officials and allottees.
The three promoters - Anil Kumar Sharma, Ajay Kumar and Shiv Priya - had diverted Rs 1,500-1,600 crore through bogus methods like loans and advances between group firms at inflated rates.
